Yale historian Jonathan Holloway traces how the political upheaval of the early 1970s, from the invasion of Cambodia to urban decay and economic despair, surfaced in Black popular culture. This lecture from Yale's American History: From Emancipation to the Present course examines Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and Stevie Wonder's recordings of the period as responses to Vietnam and poverty, then turns to blaxploitation film. Holloway walks through Shaft, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Super Fly, and Foxy Brown, unpacking how these films celebrated Black masculinity and virility while sending complicated messages about Black women and sexuality. The lecture treats music and film as primary historical evidence for a moment of both crisis and cultural pride, recorded in 2010 as part of Yale's Open Yale Courses initiative. Contains discussion of graphic film content and adult language.